"When you have to start trusting the decisions taken by a teen, Lulu, I will never advise you to do it wholeheartedly. We have this African saying; 'what an old man sees seated, a young man can never see even while standing on the tallest Iroko.' At this age they think they know so much, they live in the spur of the moment, take quick decisions without thinking about the aftereffects. In this case, what you do is give them the silent benefit of the doubt. Ask if you can give your opinion, which of course, the proud ones will turn you down. Assure them that you got their back and will always be there if things don't go as planned. Tell a little story related to that matter, you know, with a little lesson they can learn from it. I don't know if I'm making some sense to you." Louisa nodded. "Yeah." She bit on a cookie, her stare distant. "Come, have you ever had a mother-daughter time with Gigi? 'Cuz I recall you mentioning one with Mason before and never with you." Louisa twisted her
Persuaded, or so they hoped, to not do anything crazy, the trio ambled towards the school's exit after the seventh period, of course, with numerous feminine faces they'd never known frequented that school, buzzing around them like hungry bees. Excruciatingly infuriating. Mimie hadn't said a word to either of them, which was off of the girl's attitude. "I got to meet these McCoys of a neighbor last week," she initiated a topic that will no doubt urge Mimie to talk. "Town's gossip was right, they got three lovely kids." Mimie, besides being mute, didn't retract her gaze from her feet as she walked. So to say, she seemed aloof concerning the topic she once was excited about. "Two pretty girls and an adorable boy," she nudged Mimie with a perspicacious smile. Yet, nothing but a faint affirmative hum escaped her throat. "Adorable, hmm. Smells Bermuda Triangle soon. Seth won't like this." "I don't think Seth will mind being caught in a Bermuda triangle with a lovely six-month-old or
"Gianna's being bullied," Mason calmly stated. "Did you know that?" "I suspected. You know she doesn't tell me anything." Mason exhaled. "Was that the reason for Sean?" Louisa hesitated, freezing from applying a layer of clay mask. "Yeah. I figured he could help, which he did from my observations and his reports until the last incident. And I can't help but wonder what went wrong. I haven't seen him since." Mason remained quiet, silently putting two and two together. "You're saying you've been receiving reports from Sean all along which no doubt confirmed that Gianna was being bullied and didn't let me know?" "Honey, I didn't want you troubled with all that you were going through in the vineyard and—" "Bullshit, Lou! That's bullshit. Gianna is our daughter. Not yours, not mine, but ours, and I don't mind breaking my limits when it comes to our kids so that is not a fucking excuse." Louisa's head lowered in guilt. "Did you ever ask her anything pertaining to the subject matter
Gianna was quick to grab Mimie by the arm and detach her from her entourage. "Are you okay, Mims? Like...sincerely." "Yeah." "No. You're off. Aren't we friends anymore?" She rhetorically asked. "Tell me what's troubling you. Did I offend you in any way?" "No." "But your actions say otherwise." A ripple of pause ruled. "Mims, listen, I don't know what I did to you but if I ever offended you in any way please, please forgive me, okay? I don't like this distance between us," Gianna pouted, "I miss my day one bestie." Mimie weakly smiled. With glassy eyes, she unexpectedly hugged Gianna. "You did n-nothing, rest ass-assured." "Then what's the matter?" "Are you w-waiting for someone?" Mimie examined their surroundings. "Not really. Adam dashed to the principal's office immediately after lunch." "Okay. Can we fin-find a quiet place?" A boy passed them by mimicking a failed attempt at a move she'd done in the video, laughed with his mates, and made a snide comment on how hot she'll
Adam left the principal's office as fast as he could, tearing past a small crowd heading to their class and dismissing the profanities and comments of those he bumped. Luck on his side, he spotted Mimie exiting the restroom after contemplating on whether to call out on Gianna from outside of it. "Where's Gianna?" He walked in on a pale and beaten-looking Mimie. "Is she in there?" Mimie sluggishly shook her head. She'd wanted to wait for her friend outside as planned but was scared off by Ephraim who guarded the door with diligence. "She's in th-the art room, w-with Sean." At the mention of the name, Adam made a U-turn and bolted to said place. The sight of the burly dark-haired teen hadn't any effect on his momentum yet, ignoring him wasn't an option. "Where to?" Ephraim interrogated, his big hand in a back-off stance. "Piss off!" Adam swatted his hand away with a force that alerted Ephraim to take his opponent seriously. "You better back off if you don't want to end up with a
"You ugly notice-seeking bitch!" Elodie seethed coming to a stop in front of Gianna who wasn't so surprised. The visit was long overdue. What girl in her right love senses will not go bonkers seeing another girl forcing her lips on her boyfriend? "What have I fuckin' done to you, huh? Why won't you leave my boyfriend alone, whore!" That unfortunate moment, she was struggling to get her phone back when it turned into a small battle. She'd fought with all her might. Only God knew that. Nothing like her fault that, according to the video, it looked like she was playing tickling and hair-tracing games on his chest before being pushed onto the bed and kissed senselessly. And that was where the damn video ended. Whatever happened to the parts where she fought her lungs out to get him off her? To pleading for the mercy of her innocence? To being the victim? Adam wanted to interfere before being held back. "Don't! I'll take care of this." Gianna stepped forth, daring Elodie to do same lik
"I got my fingers on Zombie Down III, if you're still interested. Sorry, my room's a mess," Adam picked up some littering pants, boxers, and shirts and shoved them into the laundry basket next to the bathroom door. "Been challenged with having to figure out what to put on lately. Please sit. Can I offer you something?""No, I'm fi-fine.""Gianna said you won't be hanging out with us tonight, why not?""I'm not fe-feeling too well.""What's wrong?" He sat on the chair in front of his laptop, so concerned that Mimie would've thought it genuine."Like you care.""Huh? What do you mean by 'like I care'? If I didn't I wouldn't bother asking. You are the one slipping off of me every time I want to care."Mimie looked away to better blink off her tears. He was victimizing himself again as usual. To cut the reason for her visit relatively short, Mimie nailed her gaze on the thick grey rug where her dressed up feet laid. "Can we-we conclude on our st-status now?"Adam pondered after wiping awa
Venisa must have understood Gianna's profile as she was urged to explain further."He was caught on private property," Gianna's eyes widened in realization. "He didn't do it. I-I mean, Jerome isn't that kind of person. Someone must have blackmailed him in to it or something but he is not a vandal, please, believe me.""Okay, okay," she didn't mention that she'd come to a similar theory. Gianna knew Jerome. The stare, appreciate one or two things, and stare on, kind of know, if at all sharing a similar elective lesson could expand the awareness radar. Not the type to keep records of; an ordinary high school kid he was. However, he never occurred to her to be that kind of person talkless of doing that sort of thing, especially with his friendly baby face and decent physique put into consideration. Nothing too special.Now that she thought back to it, there was a striking resemblance to Venisa. With the big russet brown eyes and Roman nose aside, Venisa wore not only similar contours but